Romania Jan-May Current Account Gap Widens 46% To EUR2.9B

The current transfers balance posted a surplus of EUR839 million in the first five months, down 55% from EUR1.87 billion in January-May 2009.

Foreign direct investments, which stood at EUR1.43 billion, covered half of Romania’s current account deficit in the first five months of 2010.

In January-May 2009, Romanian FDI was EUR2.1 billion.

Romania’s total external debt reached EUR87.1 billion end-May, compared with EUR80.2 billion at the end of 2009, according to central bank data.

The wider debt was mostly due to the raising medium and long-term debt, which stood at EUR71.2 billion at the end of May, from EUR65.6 billion in December 2009.

The short-term debt was at EUR15.8 billion, up from EUR14.6 billion at the end of December.

In 2009, Romania’s current account deficit narrowed 68.7% on the year to EUR5.05 billion.